Headsweats Hat Giveaway!

If you remember the post about my favorite things, you'll remember I LOVE me my Headsweats hats! The nice people at Headsweats sent me a hat to give away to one of you lucky people! The hat is pictured above (nice gender-neutral gray) and is ready to proffer all of its magical performance hat properties to you.

If you'd like to be entered into the random drawing, just leave a comment on this post (please include your email if your profile doesn't link to one) and answer the question: What was your favorite "Monday Mario" moment? (I'll make it a little easier for you... Just click HERE)

I'll pick a name on Friday, December 4th, 10 pm PST.

These hats are seriously the best thing since the invention of the craisin and I can't wait to convert one of you! Good luck!

On a Headsweats hat note, I'd like to introduce the latest member of the RoadBunner stable of Headsweats hats:

JackRabbit (the bestest-most-greatest-running-store-in-the-world!) had a pink Headsweats hat made up for October's Breast Cancer Awareness Month. They were donating 15% of all proceeds to this great cause. I called and had one mailed out to me from NYC. Fight cancer AND wear a Headsweats hat with a running rabbit?! No-brainer. Not sure if they have any left, but you can call their customer service number at 212.727.2980 x 2 and ask. I believe the hat was $20 and there was no shipping charge.

Monday Mario

The photo doesn't accurately capture the moment, but the other night Mario was rooting around for who knows what in Boyfriend's jacket sleeve. He had his face shoved up there for almost a whole minute.

Today I did my final long fun for CIM training. I finished off 22 miles at an average 10:15 pace with mile 21 @ 9:54 and mile 22 @ 9:28. I haven't quite decided what my goal pace for this race is going to be, but I know I'd like to sub 10:00 pace it. Miles 18-20 were really, really hard so I don't know where I dug to pick up the pace those last two miles. My theory is that the endorphins decided to finally kick in those last two miles. I have one more double-digit run on Wednesday, but other than that we're on the taper!

(Long) Overdue Running Update!

So what have I been up to running-wise the last month and a half? After the half marathon I switched gears and jumped back into marathon training. Since it worked so well the last time, I decided to stick with the same Runner's World plan I used for the San Francisco Marathon.

I did re-input the numbers so that the goal pace for all the runs was tweaked, but the mileage and workouts are all the same this time around as the last time. If you take a look back here, I am currently on Week 10 and just finished up the Tuesday run (today's stats: 10 miles, including 7 miles at an 8:58 pace).

So two things...

One, I am in peak week for CIM training. How that happened, I have no idea because the training this time around has been flying by so fast! I guess that is a great thing because I am finding myself much less mentally exhausted this time around than I was during San Francisco Marathon training.

Two, I am finding myself running these training runs at paces which are incredible for me. About 3 weeks ago something really clicked and my pace for all types of runs dropped dramatically. As a comparison, today's run the last training cycle was done with the 7 mile pick up at a 9:29 pace. The last few times I've gone out I actually wondered if Garmin was broken and was playing some cruel trick on me.

I don't know if anyone ever looks at the sidebar -->

For a few weeks my biggish news has been plainly posted there. I scheduled a trip home to Hawaii in early December. I figured I'd beat the expensive holiday plane prices by going home before Christmas. A few days after I booked my ticket I thought maybe there might be a nice 10K I could run for fun while I was home. Lo and behold, I found out I was going to be home for the Honolulu Marathon.

So against all injury prevention wisdom, I'll be running back-to-back marathons. It actually worked out pretty well. I never really had much interest to run Honolulu. A lot of family members back home kept asking if I was going to do that race. I always said it was on my long list of things to do. There is something about running 26.2 miles in Hawaii's heat & humidity which is just not appealing to me. I could never imagine training for months knowing it would be a lackluster performance on (what I consider to be) a pretty drab course.

But since I'll be "fresh" off of CIM there is no additional training required! Honolulu also gives discounted rates for Hawaii residents. I had my parents' addy for a mailing address and my passport still says "Honolulu" in it, so I registered at a reduced rate, too (I missed the dirt cheap price.... My friend back home once told me it only cost $35 for Hawaii residents. I ended up paying a fair bit more than that). I am hoping to slam down a PR at CIM so will probably be pretty beat up for Honolulu. But even if I have to walk the last 10 miles I figure I'll carry my camera and have a fun time with the race.

So that is the news in a nutshell. I apologize for the long running silence. I'll try to keep up better!

The above was taken after my recent 20 miler the week before last. Michael B. and I share a love of Goldfish crackers and I brought my 2 lb. carton along for the ice bath ride. Yes, it long gone. And yes, after seeing this photo I'm planning on buying another one tomorrow :)

Monday Mario

Boyfriend had some weights out the other day. I thought maybe Mario might want to sit on them. Evidently, bunnies don't like cold metal on their butts anymore than I would. He had some fun hopping over the stuff but never once paused to apply tush to metal.

I know I promised weeks ago I would return to the running broadcast on this blog. I have lots of running news and have been doing lots of running. Come back tomorrow for an update on that front!

Monday Mario

I realized the other day that it was November and I had totally missed 'Tocktober!

Unacceptable.

Happy Belated 'Tocktober!

Monday Mario

Months and months ago I saw this post from our friends over the pond. I am a pretty sad knitter but I enlisted one of my friends to help me figure out the pattern. I've been practicing for a while now and finally got around to knitting Rabbits Guy his consolation prize sock bunny.

I decided to try to make a little Racer sock bunny. Here is our subject:

Mario quickly befriended the sock bunny for some cuddling.

This was the first time I ever used two different colors of yarn. His nose ended up being rather large, but RG, if you pinch his face just right and turn down the ears when he arrives he's a nice little Racer wannabe!

I am not a great knitter, but it is a lot of fun and I'm looking forward to doing other projects! I am currently working on a shawl/scarf thing for my mom and sister for Christmas and other knit bunnies to give to relatives as ornaments.

Mario helped me stuff the sock bunny in an envelope to send to RG when the sock bunny tried to hitch a ride on Mario to the hay wagon.

Not to hijack a "Monday Mario" post, but I have been running and will start updating the blog on that front soon! I have lots of running related posts I want to do and even another giveaway that is long overdue!

Monday Mario

It has been a long time since Mario showcased his awe-inspiring talent of sitting on things. Truth be told there just aren't so many things to sit on in this new apartment. However, Boyfriend left a cooler out the other day and when I heard the little clack of little nails I knew we had a moment!

Side-note: Yes, those are my running shoes in the background. I rotate through a few pairs and right now I have the highest number in rotation ever (that would be 6 pairs). One just passed over to the other side after yesterday's run and I have one more pushing 400+ miles I'm hoping to recycle very soon.